The Guggenheim Management Group that purchased The Los Angeles Dodgers last March has changed the landscape of baseball in Southern California. With six World Series Championships that dates back to the franchise’s days in Brooklyn, The Dodgers have always been a team that was able to produce talent through their minor-league system. The Dodger way has produced a lineage of Hall of Famers which includes Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Sandy Koufax. In the 1970’s, The Dodgers minor-league system produced Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey who formed what could be deemed as the best infield in Major League Baseball history. The 1990’s saw The Dodgers system produce five consecutive National League Rookie of The Year Award winners in Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth. Now the current ownership has surpassed The New York Yankees when it comes to spending money as the sky is the limit for The Dodgers team payroll.
To start the 2012 season, The Dodgers team payroll was at $94 million. Entering the 2013 campaign, the team’s payroll will exceed $200 million as The Yankees do not appear to be exceeding $180 million in 2013. Once The Miami Marlins came back to the decision that winning is optional, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti swooped in and acquired shortstop Hanley Ramirez last summer. After that The Dodgers decided to bail out The Boston Red Sox last summer by taking on the large contracts of starting pitcher Josh Beckett, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, and left fielder Carl Crawford. Colletti could not allow himself to sit idle this offseason after seeing the rival San Francisco Giants win their second World Series Championship in the past three seasons. Colletti signed free-agent starting pitcher Zack Greinke to a six-year, $147 million deal. The Dodgers also signed Korean pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu to a six-year, $36 million deal. Once you factor that in with Colletti locking up current All-Stars in starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw along with outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to long-term deals, you have a team that has basically laughed at MLB commissioner Bud Selig’s luxury tax.
Free agency has taught us that you cannot buy a championship in baseball. In 1992, The New York Mets brought in a posse of free agents that included Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, and Vince Coleman as they were expected to contend for The World Series. Instead The Mets finished 24 games behind The Pittsburgh Pirates in The NL East. Following the 2010 season, The Red Sox signed Gonzalez and Crawford to big deals in the hopes of surpassing The Yankees in The AL East. Instead The Red Sox saw an epic collapse in September 2011 knock them out of playoff contention on the last day of the regular season which resulted in the departure of manager Terry Francona and general manager Theo Epstein. Last season saw Boston finish in last place as the team was never on track to contend. Last year The Marlins and Los Angeles Angels went crazy in free agency by throwing money around to All-Star caliber players. The Marlins signed starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, shortstop Jose Reyes, and closing pitcher Heath Bell in the hopes a creating a new buzz in South Florida. Instead The Marlins only won 69 games and they finished in the basement of The NL East. After the season Reyes and Buehrle were traded to The Toronto Blue Jays while Bell is now a member of The Arizona Diamondbacks. The Angels gave first baseman Albert Pujols a ten-year, $264 million deal. The Angels also signed starting pitcher C.J. Wilson to a five-year, $75 million deal. The Angels thought that they had the right combination to not only dethrone The Texas Rangers in The American League West, but to also win The World Series. Instead, The Angels finished in third place while The Oakland Athletics won the division.
The Dodgers are trying to buy a championship but they should take some notes from The Giants. Under general manager Brian Sabean, The Giants have built a team to the strengths of their home ballpark (AT&T Park). The Giants have won with dominant starting pitching in the form of Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, and Matt Cain. Under manager Bruce Bochy, The Giants have gotten timely hitting from guys who appeared to be afterthoughts with catcher Buster Posey being the main cog in the lineup. Lincecum, Posey, Bumgarner, and Cain are all homegrown talent for The Giants while everyone else on the team is replaceable. In 2010, The World Series hero for The Giants was Edgar Renteria while it was Marco Scutaro in 2012. Both players were past their primes as they had both bounced around with multiple clubs. The Angels are attempting to go back to they ways that helped them win a World Series Championship in 2002. Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto traded starting pitcher Ervin Santana to The Kansas City Royals while he let Greinke and starting pitcher Dan Haren leave in free-agency.
When big money teams like the ones listed fail, the blame goes on the manager. Jeff Torborg was the fall guy for The Mets IN 1992 while Ozzie Guillen got the blame in Miami last year. Now it is put up or shut up time for Dodgers manager Don Mattingly as he is expected to get this team deep into the playoffs. When it comes to The MLB Playoffs, it isn’t always about the hitter that can hit a three-run home run. In order for a power-hitter to produce a three-run blast, he must have his teammates on base. You need 25 guys in the locker room that are willing to make the necessary sacrifices that come with being a championship team. Last season The Giants offense was last in The National League in home runs with 103, but they were third in batting average at .269 and fourth in on-base percentage at .327 while they had the fifth best team earned run average in The NL at 3.68. With Kemp, Ethier, Gonzalez, Ramirez, and Crawford, The Dodgers are expected to light up The Los Angeles sky with balls leaving Chavez Ravine. With championship baseball it might take a sacrifice bunt by Gonzalez to get Crawford to third for Kemp. Baseball can play cruel tricks on teams that attempt to take the easy way to a championship and at this rate The Dodgers won’t stop until the payroll reaches $300 million. Money cannot buy happiness and it cannot buy at World Series Championship for The Dodgers.
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